With the construction of the Panama Canal and
the consequent change of commercial lines the im-
portance of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of
Mexico to the United States is enormously en-
hanced. With thi's change of commercial lines the
Island of Haiti and San Domingo, in the Carib-
bean Sea, has become of supreme importance to
the United States.
This book is in no sense of the word a study or
a philosophical treatise. It is simply a statement
of the present situation of the Republic of Haiti
and our relation to it under the Monroe Doctrine,
a statement that is made for the purpose of giv-
ing our people some information as to this little
known but most important and strategic island.
The general substance of this little book is con-
tained in an address delivered at Philadelphia,
April 3, 1914, before the American Academy of
Political and Social Science. Since that time the
chronically bad status of the Republic of Haiti has
become very much more acute, and to-day is caus-

6 PREFACE

ing but little less anxiety to our government than
does the Republic of Mexico.
I have included in this volume Washington's
Address, President Monroe's message, and the
later interpretation of that instrument, in order
that the reader, as he studies the situation, may
have the foundation of the Doctrine with him and
may be able more accurately to decide as to the
soundness of the conclusions herein drawn.

By many, Washington's farewell address is
considered the germ of the Monroe Doctrine.
One view, however, shows this judgment to be
not technically correct. While President Wash-
ington made plain that we should have as little
political connection as possible with foreign na-
tions and that our isolated position was our pro-
tection, he had in mind the question of alliances
with the European governments. He had just
gone through the annoyances that sprang from
complications arising from our sentimental feeling
toward one of those governments. While this
was true, he emphasized our isolated position and
the importance of maintaining that position. He
did not have his attention directed to the question
of European intervention so much as to the dan-

12 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

gers of the permanent alliance that we might make
with a European country. This isolation, when
carried to its fruition, is the practical foundation
of the Monroe Doctrine.

WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS

"Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I con-
jure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a
free people ought to be awake, since history and experience
prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful
foes of republican government. .
"The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign
nations is, in extending our commercial relations, to have
with them as little connection as possible. So far as we
have already formed engagements let them be fulfilled
with perfect good faith. Here let us stop.
"Europe has a set of primary interests which to us
have none or a very remote relation. Hence she must be
engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are
essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it
must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by artificial
ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics or the ordi-
nary combinations and collisions of her friendships or
enmities.
"Our detached and distant situation invites and en-
ables us to pursue a different course. If we remain one
people, under an efficient government, the period is not
far off when we may defy material injury from external
annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 13

cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to
be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, un-
der the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will
not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; when we
may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice,
shall counsel.
"Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation?
Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? Why,
by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of
Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of
European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice?
"It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alli-
ances with any portion of the foreign world, so far, I
mean, as we are not at liberty to do it; for let me not be
understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to exist-
ing engagement. I hold the maxim no less applicable to
public than to private affairs that honesty is always the
best policy. I repeat, therefore, let those engagements be
observed in their genuine sense. But in my opinion it is
unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them."

In 1822 Austria, Russia, and Prussia formed
the Holy Alliance, which made the following dec-
laration:

"The high contracting parties, well convinced that the
system of representative government is as incompatible
with the monarchical principle as the maxim of the sover-
eignty of the people is opposed to the principle of divine
right, engage in the most solemn manner to employ all
their means and unite all their efforts to put an end to

14 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

the system of representative government wherever it is
known to exist in the states of Europe and to prevent it
from being introduced into those states where it is not
known."

While this declaration referred to the states of
Europe, its important effect would be upon the
countries of this hemisphere; and the King of
Spain directly demanded support from the sov-
ereigns of the Holy Alliance to maintain the prin-
ciples of the Holy Alliance on this hemisphere.
In 1823, therefore e_President_.LonrQoe, after care-
ful conference with the two great living revolu-
tionary statesmen, formulated .the message that
has become a fundamentalprinciple of our govern-.
ment in its dealings with_the foreign governments
of the world.

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI

II

THE MONROE DOCTRINE

"In the discussions to which this interest has given rise
and in the arrangements by which they may terminate,
the occasion has been judged proper for asserting, as a
principle in which the rights and interests of the United
States are involved, that the American continents, by the
free and independent condition which they have assumed
and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as
subjects for future colonization by any European
powers. .
"The political system of the allied powers is essen-
tially different in this respect from that of America. This
difference proceeds from that which exists in their re-
spective Governments; and to the defense of our own,
which has been achieved by the loss of so much blood and
treasure, and matured by the wisdom of their most en-
lightened citizens, and under which we have enjoyed un-
exampled felicity, this whole nation is devoted. We owe
it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations ex-
isting between the United States and those powers to
declare that we should consider any attempt on their part
to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as
dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing
colonies or dependencies of any European power we have
not interfered and shall not interfere. But with the Gov-

16 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

ernments who have declared their independence, and
maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great
consideration and on just principles, acknowledged, we
could not view any interposition for the purpose of op-
pressing them, or controlling in any other manner their
destiny, by any European power, in any other light than
as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward
the United States. .
"Our policy in regard to Europe-which was adopted
at an early stage of the wars that have so long agitated
that quarter of the globe-nevertheless remains the same,
which is: not to interfere in the internal concerns of any
of its powers; to consider the government de facto as the
legitimate government for us; to cultivate friendly rela-
tions with it, and to preserve these relations by a frank,
firm, and manly policy, meeting in all instances the just
claims of every power, submitting to injuries from none.
But in regard to those continents circumstances are emi-
nently and conspicuously different. It is impossible that
the allied powers should extend their political system to
any portion of either continent without endangering our
peace and happiness; nor can any one believe that our
Southern brethren, if left to themselves, would adopt it of
their own accord."

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S INTERPRETATION OF THE
MONROE DOCTRINE

"We must recognize the fact that in some South
American countries TIere has been much suspicion lest we
should interpret the Monroe Doctrine as in some way

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 17

inimical to their interests, and we must try to convince
all the other nations of the continent-once and for all-
that no just and orderly government has anything to fear
from us.
"There are certain republics to the south of us which
have already reached such a point of stability, order, and
prosperity, that they themselves, though as yet hardly
consciously, are among the guarantors of this Doctrine.
These republics we now meet not only on a basis of entire
equality, but in a spirit of frank and respectful friendship,
which we hope is mutual. If all the republics to the
south of us will not only grow as those to which I allude
have already grown, all need for us to be the especial
champions of the Doctrine will disappear; for no stable
and growing American republic wishes to see some great
non-American military power acquire territory in its
neighborhood. All that this country desires is that the
other republics on the continent shall be happy and pros-
perous; and they cannot be happy and prosperous unless}
they maintain order within their boundaries and behave(
with a just regard for their obligations toward outsiders.)
"It must be understood that under no circumstances
will the United States use the Monroe Doctrine as a
cloak for territorial aggression. We desire peace with
all the world, but perhaps most of all with the other
peoples of the American continent. There are of course
limits to the wrongs which any self-respecting nation can
endure. It is always possible that wrong actions toward
this nation, or toward citizens of this nation, in some
state unable to keep order among its own people, unable
to secure justice from outsiders, and unwilling to do jus-
tice to those outsiders who treat it well, may result in

18 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

our having to take action to protect our rights; but such
action will not be taken with a view to territorial ag-
gression, and it will be taken at all only with extreme re-
luctance and when it has become evident that every other
resource has been exhausted.

THE LODGE RESOLUTION

"Resolved, That when any harbor or other place in the
American continents is so situated that the occupation
thereof for naval or military purposes might threaten the
communications or the safety of the United States, the
Government of the United States could not see, without
grave concern, the possession of such harbor or other place
by any corporation or association which has such a rela-
tion to another Government, not American, as to give that
Government practical power of control for national pur-
poses."

The Lodge Resolution was not approved by the
President, but it was passed by an overwhelming
vote, which showed the sentiment of the American
people as to its provisions; and it is accepted as
the Doctrine of the United States founded upon
the preservation of the safety of our country.

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 19

III

THE FUNCTION OF THE DOCTRINE

That the Monroe Doctrine made its apparent
advent in the history of nations so late as the
time of the President whose name it bears has, to
a certain extent, diminished its importance as a
part of the fundamental and international life in
the thought of the nations of the world. While>
this doctrine did not form part of the written law
of this country, still it originated in the very life
of the American Republic, and is not, as a matter
of truth, the doctrine of President Monroe but
rather the doctrine that was part of the actual life
of this republic in its inception. It was enunciated
as a foundation proposition of our government by
Washington, was interpreted and insisted upon as
part of our fundamental life by Jefferson, and'
finally, upon the historic occasion, established as
the Monroe Doctrine.
Writers are fond of frequently repeating the
statement that the Monroe Doctrine is not part of
the international code, but that it is merely a pol-

20 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

icy of this government and only so understood in
the law of nations. While this may be the thought
among other nations, the Monroe Doctrine is as
absolutely part of the life of this republic, in its
dealings with the nations of the world, as any
doctrine of international law expressed and pub-
lished as such by the nations of the world. It is
fundamentally the Doctrine of the greatest and
most powerful nation on earth, and so understood
to be a primary doctrine by the hundred millions
of people forming the great western republic. If
it is not technically part of the code of interna-
tional law, it is the belief of our people that it
forms an essential part of the structure of our na-
tional life. Secretary Foster stated:
"It has been said that the Monroe Doctrine has no
binding authority; first, because it has not been admitted
into the code of international law; and, second, because it
has never been adopted or declared by Congress. In reply,
it may be said that the principle which underlies the Mon-
roe Doctrine-the right of self-defense, the preservation
of the peace and safety of the nation-is recognized as
an elementary part of international law. It stands
to-day as a cardinal policy of our government."

While this doctrine may be a policy and not a
part of the technical code of international law, it
has for one hundred years held the hands of the

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 21

mightiest nations on earth, nations that have rec-
ognized its potency equally with the recognition
which they have extended to any principle of inter-
national law. The law of self-preservation is the
most fundamental and absolute of all the laws of
nations. The Monroe Doctrine is the one vital)
doctrine, which in our intercourse with other na-
tions most vitally controls "our peace and happi-
ness" and "our peace and safety." It is idle for)
any authority to contend that a principle so vital
as this does not have the real potency and effect of
international law. Throughout the discussions by
the fathers and by those who latterly placed the
doctrine in active effect, the one continuing thread
runs, that underlying this doctrine are "the peace
and safety" and "the peace and happiness" of the
American nation.
This doctrine was at first, in one sense of the
word, a negative proposition. Its primal idea was
non-action on the part of the United States, unless
foreign governments attempted to extend their
system to any portion of this hemisphere. With
the life of the world it has changed, not in its
fundamental idea, for it is founded upon the
preservation of the safety and peace of this repub-
lic, but to a certain extent the change -has come
with the altered condition of the times and the

22 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

surroundings of the life of this hemisphere. Time
has made it an affirmative doctrine on our part, a
doctrine that will, in a way, compel action on the
part of our government, even before direct inter-
ference with our hemisphere by foreign govern-
ments has come about. The peace and safety of
the republic, which was the underlying idea of the
Monroe Doctrine, will demand that this country
must affirmatively protect itself against the condi-
tion brought about by the governments of our
hemisphere. In other words, with the change of
circumstances and the surroundings of our life
this doctrine has in a way taken the form that will
compel action on our part to prevent a condition
which is ultimately liable to bring about interfer-
ence with our peace and safety.
In this discussion we found our argument upon
the-Monroe Doctrine, both in its original and its
later construction. We believe, as a cardinal
principle of its application, that independence is
fundamental. To differ with another country in
its ideas of government will form no reason why
we should deprive that country of its govern-
mental life and existence. We concede that be-
cause of the difference in thought, as to govern-
mental policy, we should not interfere with any
government nor establish over any government a

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 23

suzerainty or control. We do not contend that the
Monroe Doctrine applies to a country, unless the
acts of that country interfere with the doctrine in
our interpretation of its principles as to control by
European nations, or unless it interferes, with the
preservation of our peace and safety, or unless it
commits a breach of international law.

24 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

IV

HAITI'S RELATION TO OUR GOVERN-
MENT

The question of the condition of the Republic
of Haiti is one so urgent, is, indeed, a question
that so earnestly demands that the people of our
country should possess the fullest information as
to its condition, that no apologies are needed for
a discussion of the Monroe Doctrine as it applies
to this important strategic island lying practically
at our door and commanding the greatest avenues
of our commerce.
Next to Mexico this island republic is fraught
with the greatest importance to the United States
in our relation to the Southern and Central Amer-
ican republics, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Carib-
bean Sea. Let us then, as briefly as possible, dis-
cuss the conditions obtaining in Haiti and gain an
idea of its important relation to our government.
The island of Hispaniola, containing Haiti and
San Domingo, includes about 28,250 square
miles, of which 10,200 square miles are com-

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 25

prised in the Republic of Haiti. The island is
about the size of the combined States of Dela-
ware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hamp-
shire, and Rhode Island. Next to Cuba, it is the
most important strategical point in the Gulf of
Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. It is directly on
and commands the two great passages of the At-
lantic Ocean into the Car;bbean Sea from the east-
ern coast of the United States to and from the
Panama Canal. It thus practically controls the
great bulk of the commerce of the United States
to the East and the Pacific Ocean.
This island has within its shores more natural
wealth than has any other territory of similar size
in the world. By reason of its rich valleys and
splendid mountains it has every temperature
known to man. All tropical plants and trees, as
well as the vegetables and fruits of the temperate
climes, grow there in perfection. The best coffee
known to commerce grows wild, without planting
or cultivation. Sugar cane, indigo, bread fruit,
melons, mangoes, oranges, apples, grapes, mul-
berries, and figs all grow with little labor or care.
Mahogany, manchineel, satinwood, rosewood, cin-
namon-wood, logwood, the pine, the oak, the cy-
press, and the palmetto grow in rich profusion in
its splendid soil. Here are the best dyestuffs

26 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

known to commerce, and in the earth are silver,
gold, copper, lead, iron, gypsum, and sulphur.
We hazard the statement that this island is more
capable of supporting life in all its phases, more
able to create wealth and diffuse happiness to its
people, than any other land of its size on the face
of the earth. Its harbors are incomparable, and
,'',,A LM. -, ie. s of the world. Its atmosphere
is salubrious and its climate health. It is a nat-
ural paradise, and the description of its beautyy
and resources by Columbus is as true to-day as it
was more than four hundred years ago. He
wrote:
"In it there are many havens on the seacoast, incom-
parable with any others I know in Christendom, and
plenty of rivers, so good and great that it is a marvel.
The lands there are high, and in it are very many ranges
of hills and most lofty mountains incomparably beyond
the Island of Centrefei (or Teneriffe) ; all most beautiful
in a thousand shapes and all accessible, and full of trees of
a thousand kinds, so lofty that they seem to reach the sky.
And I am assured that they never lose their foliage, as
may be imagined, since I saw them, as green and as
beautiful as they are in Spain in May and some of them
were in flower, some in fruit, some in another stage, ac-
cording to their kind. And the nightingale was singing,
and other birds of a thousand sorts, in the month of No-
vember, round about the way I was going. There are
palm trees of six or eight species, wondrous to see for
.. .'. ".' "'......:..
**...-...-.- ... .

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI

their beautiful variety; but so are the other trees and
fruits and plants therein. There are wonderful pine
groves and very large plants of verdure, and there are
honey and many kinds of birds, and many mines in the
earth; and there is a population of incalculable number.
Espanola is a marvel; the mountains and hills, and plains,
and fields, and the soil, so beautiful and rich for planting
and sowing, for breeding cattle of all sorts, for building
of towns and villages. There could be no believing, with-
out seeing, such harbors as are here, as well as the many
and great rivers and excellent waters, most of which con-
tain gold. In the trees and fruits and plants, there are
greater diversities from those of Juana (Cuba). In this
there are many spiceries and great mines of gold and
other metals. The people of this island and all others
that I have seen, or not seen, all go naked, men and
women, just as their mothers bring them forth."

The seas that are to-day, actually and prospec-
tively, most important to mankind are the Med-
iterranean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Car-
ibbean Sea. In their importance these seas have
waxed and waned as have all other lands and seas
of the globe. While the Mediterranean has been
important throughout history as a part of the
chain of communication to the East, it is probably
at the present time more vital than ever, for it
commands the Suez Canal and is virtually a part
of the Suez route. The two great twin seas, the
Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, are, if

28 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

possible, more important than the Mediterranean
in their effect upon the commerce of the world.
From their position they will be more world-wide
in their direct influence upon commerce than the
Mediterranean, because these two seas will em-
brace a greater part of the world.
It .shopulibe-a- fundamentaL principle of the
United-St-ates-t-hat we should control the Gulf of
Mexico -and- the. Caribbean Sea. This control
should be absolute and exclusive. The ultimate
realization of this postulate may be far in the fu-
ture, but the principle should be carried out as
persistently as Russia and Germany have pursued
the thought of an open sea. While the ultimate
thought of our country is toward peace, still the
developing world-conditions compel us to prepare
for the dominance of the seas that are absolutely
necessary to our future security. The control of
these great seas, which cut our shore line in twain
and which control our greatest river and the heart
of our greatest population, is as essential to the
peace and safety of this country as is the control
of the British Channel or the Red Sea to Great
Britain, or that of the Adriatic to Austria and
Italy.
The peace and safety of our country further
demand that the countries bordering on the Car-

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 29

ibbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico should not be
able by whim, self-interest, or lawlessness, to in-
terfere with this nation. The conditions sur-
rounding this country demand that our spheres of
influence on this continent should be as absolutely
delimited and settled as is the establishment of
that principle in Europe. While it is possible
easily to settle this principle, it should be done;
and as rapidly as is consistent with justice and
right the bringing about of the situation that will
absolutely secure our control of these great seas
should be inaugurated.
The events of the day show how causelessly a
great war may arise and of what deadly impor-
tance to a great nation may be a small island or
an obscure country. The construction of the
Canal has emphasized our duty along the lines of
this basic idea, and this principle has been practi-
cally made part of our treaty obligations in an
agreement for the preservation of order in the
Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the sur-
rounding and adjacent countries.
In the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty we contract that
"The canal shall be free and open to the vessels
of commerce and of war of all nations observing
these rules"; and we further agree that "The
canal shall never be blockaded, nor shall any right

30 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

of war be exercised nor any act of hostility be
committed within it. The United States, how-
ever, shall be at liberty to maintain such military
police along the canal as may be necessary to pro-
tect it against lawlessness and disorder."
It is idle to believe that these solemn and im-
portant obligations can be brought to fruition
while the condition of the Gulf of Mexico and the
Caribbean Sea remains as it is to-day and while
the present status of irresponsibility controls
these seas. These seas and islands and the lands
bordering on them are a part of the Panama Zone
and while their ability to cast this important ocean
of the Western Hemisphere into political, social,
and mercantile chaos remains, our solemn guar-
antees and treaties to preserve the canal are but
as waste paper. The control of the Panama Canal
makes the United States a trustee for civilization,
and to carry out our treaties it is necessary that
we dominate these seas; and we should be able
by fair treaty, or by fairly granted rights, to pre-
serve the peace and safety of that portion of this
continent.

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 31

V

STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF HAITI

It is necessary to our subject briefly to discuss
the location of Haiti, not only as to its trade posi-
tion but as to its strategical situation. In the Gulf
of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea there are five
great strategical positions: the mouth of the Ca-
nal, the mouth of the Mississippi, Cuba, Haiti,
and Jamaica. The mouth of the Mississippi nec-
essarily will command the great central valley of
the United States, and here will be one of the
great positions in the trade of the world. From
the mouth of the Mississippi to Colon our com-
merce will have a straight course, passing Cape
Catoche, the outermost point of Yucatan, and
Cape Gracias Ai Dios on the Mosquito Coast.
This route will pass the island of Mujeres, which
is not important, but will be within easy striking
distance of the great island of Jamaica, owned by
Great Britain.
The island of Cuba is the great controlling
strategical influence in the Caribbean Sea and the

32 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

Gulf of Mexico. It lies across the route from
North America, and largely commands the route
from the mouth of the Mississippi to the eastern
opening of the Canal. It controls the passage
from the Gulf of Mexico into the Caribbean Sea
through the Yucatan Channel, and into the Gulf
of Mexico from the Atlantic by the Florida straits.
Second to Cuba in strategical importance is the
Island of Haiti and San Domingo.
The two great routes from North America to
the mouth of the Canal are: first, the route by
the Windward Passage, between the Island of
Cuba and the Island of Haiti; second, the route
by the Mona Passage, between the Island of Haiti
and the Island of Puerto Rico. This latter pas-
sage will be chiefly used by the sailing vessels go-
ing to and from the Canal to the eastern portion
of North America. Every ship sailing from New
York, Philadelphia, Charleston, Canada, Balti-
more, Newport News, in short, from the east-
ern coast of North America, on their journeys to
the infinite world of commerce will be compelled
to pass by the Island of Haiti, either through the
Windward Passage or the Mona Passage, and all
vessels to Great Britain and the northern part of
Europe must use the Mona Passage by the east-
ern coast of Haiti.

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI

The other important passage to the mouth of
the Canal is the Anegada Passage by the Island
of Saint Thomas and Puerto Rico, within easy
striking distance of Haiti. This will be the route
used from the Isthmus to the Mediterranean and
Central Europe. Concisely speaking, the world
of commerce to and from the Canal will pass
along one coast or the other of the Island of
Haiti and San Domingo, or within easy striking
distance of its shores.
This world-wide commerce, in case of stress
and storm on its voyage to the commercial world,
must utilize this great island in the necessities of
sea life; for Haiti is the first great harboring
place on the way to the Canal, and on the return
it is the last stopping place. It will be as neces-
sary to the commerce of this country as Malta or
Aden or Gibraltar are to the Suez route. It lies
athwart the greatest commerce that will cleave the
seas.
In the present governmental condition of Haiti,
and with its relation to this country, the island of
Jamaica will be supremely important from a
strategical standpoint, if controlled or held by an
unfriendly power, and it could cripple our com-
merce passing through the Windward, Anegada,
or the Mona Passage. With the friendly influ-

34 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

ence of Cuba and Haiti the commerce of the
United States would have a tremendous advantage
in case of war, or in the event of unfriendliness
on the part of any nation, even if Jamaica were
held by an unfriendly power.
It is usual to speak of the Caribbean Sea and
the Gulf of Mexico as the American Seas, and to
consider them as part of our life and practically
within the control of this nation. It is necessary
that we should glance at these great seas and ap-
preciate how they and the Canal are hemmed in
by islands, which would become a menace to our
commerce in case of war or hostility on the part
of the nations of Europe.
First in importance is the island of Jamaica,
owned by Great Britain, which is practically at
the mouth of the Canal. Of almost equal impor-
tance is the island of Curacao, belonging to Hol-
land, which, in the hands of an unfriendly power,
would be disastrous in its effect upon the com-
merce of the Canal. To the east and within strik-
ing distance are Martinique, in the hands of
France; Santa Lucia, owned by England; St.
Thomas, owned by Denmark; the Bahamas and
the Bermiidas, in the hands of England, and Cuba
and Haiti, in independent control, neither of
which last two could be utilized by the United

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 35

States in case of conflict with the other nations of
the world. Thus we see that the Gulf of Mex-
ico and the Caribbean Sea are encompassed by
islands in the control of the two great nations of
the world, France and England, and by two
great islands, Haiti and Cuba, which are stra-
tegically so situated that they could largely con-
trol the commerce of practically half of the world.
In these waters the United States, to which this
commerce is supremely vital, controls with the ex-
ception of the harbor of Guantanamo in Cuba
only the relatively insignificant island of Puerto
Rico. Beyond these unimportant exceptions, the
United States has no right to fortify any of the
islands, nor could this country use them as bases
from which to protect our commerce and our
rights in the Canal.
From the present unrest in Europe, great even-
tualities, which will especially affect the Gulf of
Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, will surely arise.
Here must be the vital center of the life of the
government of the United 'States. The greatly
coveted, sparsely settled, rich, undeveloped and
weakly governed portions of the earth are South
America and Central America. In the Caribbean
Sea is the Canal, the key to the world's commerce
for our country, and the connecting link between

THE MONROE DOCTRINE

our eastern and western shores. The control of
this sea by our government is as fundamental and
as inexorable as the preservation of the rights of
the States, or of our form of free government.
To-day, because of present conditions, our country
has in that important region the advantage mili-
tary and commercial. With the advent of new
forces our access to the Canal may be destroyed
and the control of that vital seat of commerce
may fall into the hands of a combination of na-
tions opposed to the interests of the United
States. The present situation of rest in the Carib-
bean Sea can no longer continue. To think that
it will is folly.
In case of German supremacy in the great con-
test of which the first declaration has just been
heard, the colonial dependencies of France will
surely fall into German hands, and the strategic
islands of the Caribbean Sea will be held by the
most earth hungering of the nations of Europe.
If, in the complications of the inevitable war, Eng-
land is successful, it will mean with her a new era,
and it will do away with the old condition of rest
and quiet which has surrounded her West Indian
dependencies.
Under the present conditions an alliance of two
European nations can close the mouth of the Ca-

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 37

nal, and can practically dominate the Caribbean
Sea. In the opinion of thoughtful men the great
vital and living proposition for us is that the
United States should control, militarily and com-
mercially, the Caribbean Sea and the access to the
Panama Canal. Every step in that direction is
one of wisdom and demanded by the most primary
considerations of commercial and military neces-
sity.
With the change brought about by the present
conditions in Europe considerations of commer-
cial and military policy will surely demand that
the European nations will fortify their dependen-
cies in the Caribbean Sea, and the most fundamen-
tal considerations of safety demand that we shall
take every step looking to the finality which will
give to this government as complete control of mil-
itary and commercial conditions in the Caribbean
Sea as can be wrought by energy and foresight.
The Canal, closely held in our hands, will be
a source of incalculable strength. Dominated by
a European nation, or an alliance of European
nations, it will be to us commercial and military
destruction. We believe that this statement is
fundamental.
Let us consider the governmental and social
condition of the Republic of Haiti, so importantly

38 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

located as it is, and the probability of its becom-
ing a menace to the fundamental principles of the
Monroe Doctrine. It is important for us to see
if it offends against the peace and safety of this
country. No one cares to indict a whole people;
but the question of the future of this island in its
relations to this republic is one of deep and abid-
ing importance to Americans.
This island is practically part of the shore line
of our republic, and is in control of the avenues of
our greatest routes of commerce to the world, and
lies at the mouth of the Canal, which has cost us
untold sums of money. Through its great pas-
sages will flow the bulk of our commerce to the
East, and a question for consideration for the
American people is whether or not this com-
merce should oftentimes be placed in the control
of a government continuously engaged in inter-
necine war, revolution, and insurrection and sunk
in religious and governmental degeneracy. It is
vital to the United States to determine whether
the condition of this island, so important to us,
will ultimately lead to interference on the part of
European nations or compel us, in order to pre-
serve the peace and safety of our country, to pro-
vide, by some means, that its present condition be
changed, and that instead of being a menace to

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 39

our republic it may become a blessing to the world
and a protection to a commerce that will be the
greatest witnessed since the keels of mankind's
ships began to cleave the water in their quest for
knowledge and riches throughout the world.

40 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

VI

HAITI'S GOVERNMENTAL POLICY AND
RELIGIOUS IDEALS

Let us, as briefly as may be, give the condition
of this island as set out by those who have visited
its shores and who are conversant with its condi-
tions. That which shows the real life of a nation
is its governmental policy and its religious ideals.
To these two propositions I invite your attention.
A short discussion of the history of the island
is necessary to explain the underlying reasons for
its economic and governmental conditions.
At the time that Hispaniola was discovered by
Columbus, in 1492, it -was ini abited by two mil-
lion natives. By reason of the rapacity and cruelty
of the Spaniards the natives, were soon extermi-
nated, and as early as 1512 slaves were imported
from Africa. The descendants of those slaves
now control the Republic of Haiti.
Sugar, which was introduced into the island in
1506, soon began to be the great staple. In 165o
the buccaneers became formidable, and in 1697

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 41

the part of the island controlled by them was
ceded to France.
At the time of the French Revolution the popu-
lation was composed of relatively few whites, the
ruling class, some mulattoes, and a vast majority
of negro slaves. Under the control of the French,
Haiti became the seat of a luxury almost unparal-
leled, and furnished an enormous commerce to the
civilized world.
The mulattoes demanded civil rights, and with
the wave of freedom and liberty that broke over
France, they were in 1791 granted the privileges
of French citizenship by the National Convention.
The whites demanded that the decree be revoked,
which was done; but in 1791 the slaves engaged in
an insurrection in which they were assisted by the
mulattoes. In 1793 the French abolished slavery.
This, however, had no effect upon the situation.
During the war with England, which occurred
at this time, the slaves had rendered great as-
sistance to the French in defeating the English.
In 1801 Toussaint L'Ouverture, a negro, obtained
military control, and proclaimed a constitutional
government. He was deceived by General Le-
clerc, the brother-in-law of Bonaparte, and was
taken to France, where he died.
This again brought on an insurrection by the

THE MONROE DOCTRINE

negroes; and under Jean Jacques Dessalines they
renewed the conflict in its most horrible forms.
In 1803 the French abandoned the island. Des-
salines massacred all the whites, promulgated the
Declaration of Independence in 1804, and, after
he had proclaimed himself emperor in 18o6, was
assassinated.
After this came the dreadful contest between
Christophe and Petion for the control of the
whole island, and the horrible conflicts between
Haiti and San Domingo continued, with varying
success. In 1844 the Spanish portion of the
island asserted its independence of Haiti, and the
Republic of San Domingo was established. Since
that time the two political divisions of the island
have continued.
Then followed succession after succession of
negro presidents and fierce dictators, but all under
the theory and practice of complete control of the
government and property by the negro.
Here is the distinguishing difference between
San Domingo and Haiti, which is not generally
understood.
The great development of the French portion
of the island, which at the time of the French
Revolution was supplying half of Europe with

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 43

sugar, coffee, and indigo, had demanded an enor-
mous proportion of slave population to carry on
this work, and this majority of the slave popula-
tion, after the weakening of the French influence
and the evacuation of the island by that nation,
was able absolutely to control the island and to
direct its destiny. The whites and the mulattoes,
wherever found, were ruthlessly massacred by the
negro and their influence was practically de-
stroyed.
In San Domingo there had been no such de-
mand for slave labor, and the whites and the mu-
lattoes held political and economical supremacy.
These two classes have largely maintained them-
selves in that portion of the island.
The situation was totally different in Haiti.
From the first slave insurrection until to-day the
supreme effort of the large negro population has
been to annihilate the mulattoes and the whites,
and the mulattoes are now a small and unimpor-
tant part of the population of Haiti. The mu-
lattoes' political power has gone along with their
prestige, while that of the whites, as a political
factor, has been destroyed by law, and only a few,
by special permit, are engaged in trade and agri-
culture and in operating a few concessions in the
island.

44 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

Under the rule of Boyer, the negro republic
controlled San Domingo and showed the same
fear and detestation of everything white or Euro-
pean that had appeared in Haiti. The steady fear
of the Haitians of everything European led them
to destroy the lives of the mulattoes and the white
men wherever they were found, and in addition
they destroyed the culture, laws, and works of
the men who had made the island of Haiti at the
time of the French Revolution the richest posses-
sion, excepting Java, on the globe.
This continuing fear of all that was white and
civilized reached its supreme illustration in the
building by the tyrant, Christophe, of the enor-
mous fortress at La Ferriere. There, on the top
of a lonely mountain, miles away from any town
or city, at the cost of thirty thousand lives and
fifteen millions of dollars, this monster in human
form constructed one of the most stupendous for-
tresses ever reared by human hands. His object
in doing this was to protect himself against the
white man, who, he feared, would surely come and
replace the black's barbarous methods with the
rule of civilization. It stands there to-day with
giant walls one hundred feet high, filled with four
hundred cannons, its broken walls and roofless

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 45

towers attesting to the system which, under negro
rule, has destroyed this beautiful island.
Since the evacuation by the French, Haiti has
been a land of revolution, despotism, and crime
against religious authority and governmental law.
With the forms of a free government, it has been
a despotism unrivaled in its disregard for human
rights. A general of a department, with a ragged
army of banditti behind him, who by blood and
rapine seizes control of the government, often
without the pretense of the forms of an election,
has generally furnished the horrid phantasmago-
ria which, since the French evacuation, has posed
in the Haitian Republic as free government.

"Founded as it is upon force, with the strongest man at
the head, nominally as president, but in reality a dictator,
the Black Republic cannot endure another century as it is
going now, without calling to it the attention of the
world, and exciting its strongest reprobation. It is the
desire of more than one government that the United
States should take this irresponsible island republic in
hand and administer to it a salutary lesson. Nothing short
of extermination, some aver, could effect a reform in the
Haitian body politic; but as this age does not tolerate the
radical measures of the olden time it is not probable that
the present generation will experience a reformation. Sir
Spencer St. John, who was formerly the English Minister-
Resident in Haiti, and who wrote an exhaustive account

46 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

of the doings in the Black Republic, says, of it, among
other things not complimentary: 'No country possesses
greater capabilities, or a better geographical position, or
more varied soil, climate, or production, with magnificent
scenery of every description; and yet it is now the country
to be avoided, ruined as it has been b'y a succession of self-
seeking politicians, without honesty or patriotism.' "-
OBER, "The Wake of Columbus."

"The island being thus derelict, Spain and England
both tried their hand to recover it, but failed from the
same cause, and a black nation, with a republican consti-
tution and a population perhaps of about a million and a
half of pure-blooded negroes, has since been in unchal-
lenged possession, and has arrived at the condition which
has been described to us by Sir Spencer St. John. Repub-
lics which begin with murder and plunder do not come to
much good in this world. Haiti has passed through many
revolutions, and is no nearer than at first to stability. The
present president, M. Salomon, who was long a refugee in
Jamaica, came into power a few days back by a turn of
the wheel. He was described to me as a peremptory gen-
tleman who made quick work with his political oppo-
nents. His term of office having nearly expired, he had
reflected himself shortly before another seven years and
was prepared to maintain his right by any measures which
he might think expedient. He had a few regiments of
soldiers, who, I was told, were devoted to him, and a
fleet consisting of two gunboats commanded by an Ameri-
can officer to whom he chiefly owed his security."-
FROUDE, "The English in the West Indies."

"It is not possible within the limits of this paper to go
into details regarding the turbulent history of Haiti. The
fact that of its twenty-one rulers-from Dessalines to the
one now holding power-four only have completed their
terms of office, the most of them being driven out of the
country, will show the general tendency of the people to
revolution. History is here constantly repeating itself,
summed up in the general statement that the 'outs' are
always struggling to get into power, while the 'ins' are
striving to retain possession of the spoils of office.
"It is said that Haiti is getting blacker and blacker, the
white element having been practically exterminated or
removed from the island. .
"In all its political history, Haiti, the beautiful, has
been torn almost to shreds by its turbulent inhabitants,
led on by a few aspiring chiefs, who rarely have had any
other object in view than personal gain."

"Of course, if Haiti were a true republic the people
would have an opportunity to correct the abuses from
which they suffer by exercising the manhood franchise to
which, under the constitution, they are entitled, but, of
all farces and travesties of popular institutions which are
so prevalent in the Black Republic, that of the so-called
popular elections is the most flagrant. Elections to the
chamber are held or not held, not as prescribed by law
and at the proper intervals, but simply when and how it

48 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

may suit the personal convenience and private profit of the
supreme military chief of the day. If he can secure more
money in bribes from the deputies already assembled and
in session than is offered by those desirous of legislative
honors and opportunities for corruption, then the old
chamber remains on indefinitely. If the new men offer to
the military chief a sufficiently substantial inducement, the
legislature in being is dismissed, although it may have
enjoyed only a month of life, and new elections offered."-
BONSAL, "The American Mediterranean."

Again says Bonsal:

"In the winter of 1907-08, when twenty-two of the
adherents of Dr. Firmin fell into the hands of the ad-
ministration general at St. Marc, that officer walked them
out to the nearest cemetery, and after they had dug a
trench deep enough to hold their bodies, had them shot
and buried. He then reported to his commander-in-chief,
President Nord Alexis, the occurrence textually as fol-
lows:
'Feeling confident that my proces verbal of the affair,
which I shall have drawn up at the earliest possible mo-
ment, would meet with your excellency's approval, to
save time, I have executed the twenty-two prisoners-
provisionally.' This butcher never received a word of
censure, but, on the contrary, was promoted by his chief."

The first effort of a revolutionist is to obtain
possession of the custom house, so as to provide
the sinews of war and to obtain perquisites for

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 49

those in charge of the revolution. Then ensues a
massacre of those who followed the unsuccessful
aspirant for the presidency.

"At its head is a president assisted by two chambers,
the members of which are elected and hold office under a
constitution of 1889. This constitution, thoroughly re-
publican in form, is French in origin, as are also the laws,
language, traditions and customs in Haiti. In practice,
however, the government resolves itself into a military
despotism, the power being concentrated in the hands of a
president. The Haitians seem to possess everything that a
progressive and civilized nation can desire, but corruption
is spread through every portion and branch of the govern-
ment. Justice is venal, and the police are brutal and inef-
ficient."-Encyclopedia Britannica.

"But the same causes which tended then to demoralize
the country and unsettle its people are those that render it
a hotbed of revolution to-day. The bankruptcy of its
treasury, the ambition of aspiring chiefs, the hatred of
disappointed ones, and the want of any regular system of
commerce and agriculture, with the incubus of an army
living in idleness and eating up the substance of the land,
must have their effect."-HAZARD, "San Domingo and
Haiti."

"Official peculation, judicial murder, and utter corrup-
tion of every kind underlie the forms and titles of civilized
government; the religion, nominally Christian, is largely
vaudoux or serpent-worship, in which actual and horrible

THE MONROE DOCTRINE

cannibalism is even now a most important element. In-
stead of progressing, the negro republicans have gone
back to the lowest type of African barbarism."-Chambers
Encyclopedia.

"A land of continuous revolution."-Encyclopedia Bri-
tannica.

The written and ostensible form of government
of the Republic of Haiti is modeled in a general
manner after that of our republic. The govern-
ment is divided into three branches, legislative,
executive, and judicial. The national legislature
is composed of two chambers: a Senate and a
House of Representatives. According to the Con-
stitution, the members of the Chamber of Repre-
sentatives are elected by the people for a term of
three years. The Senate is chosen for a term of
six years by the representatives from a list fur-
nished by a Board of Electors and the President
of the Republic. The President of the Republic is
elected by the National Assembly for a term of
seven years. He has a cabinet, each member of
which has charge of the duties pertaining to his
department, and these departments are modeled
along the lines of those of the United States.
The Chamber of Representatives, when the pre-
tense of an election is carried out, is really re-

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI

turned by the President. Those desiring an elec-
tion to the Chamber of Representatives make
their arrangements with the President of the Re-
public, or the President, if he desires certain men
returned, has the general in charge of the district,
who is an appointee of the President, return
them as a matter of course. In the majority of
cases these names are returned by the general
without even the pretense of an election. The re-
turns are absolutely in the control of the Presi-
dent and of the twelve thousand ragged banditti
who constitute the army, men who are entirely
dependent upon him. It is a military despotism
pure and simple, founded upon greed and desire
of power; and there is scarcely any pretense of a
free election or a free government.
The republic is divided into five departments,
which in turn are subdivided, and all the execu-
tive officers of these departments are appointed by
the President of the Republic and are under his
absolute control. The taxes are farmed out for
the benefit of the President and the clique that
surrounds him; and while no general taxes are im-
posed by the Constitution, still, as a matter of fact,
every one who has any occupation or property is
compelled to pay a percentage, either to the Presi-
dent or to the ring that controls public affairs.

52 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

From the highest office to the lowest there exists a
condition of imposition and public dishonesty.
The legal taxes arise from the import and export
duties at the custom houses, and the custom house
is the chief object of possession on the part- of
those desiring to control the government of the
republic.
"A system of unparalleled corruption and self-
interest controls this institution, and it is freely
used to provide,_the-requisites for the needs of the
ever-ready Ievolution.; The Wickedest abuses pre-
va in the administration of-theTu-stomJFRues,
ind,-oreign firms arethchiefs s_his
and r ef- hrms are-ec shis
Directions. They_ are._coimp-elled to pay whatever
is required by the President and his satellites,
without regard to justice.
The island is harried by the governors of the
departments and by the officials of the districts
into which the departments are divided. The
most flagrant outrages are committed upon the
people. The army of twelve thousand is the ready
instrument for this work, and it is used relent-
lessly by the officials for the purpose of hounding
the people, preying upon every man, whether he
be a poor peasant planting a banana patch or a
foreigner attempting to work the terms of a con-
cession. This system has destroyed the hope and

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI

the welfare of the people, and the citizens are ter-
rorized to an extent rarely known elsewhere.
The President and his satellites have absolute
control of the treasury, and the largest amount of
the debt of this devoted island has been made by
its rulers at ruinous interest and at reckless sacri-
fice of the rights of the people. A loan is made,
out of which the President and the horde around
him exact an enormous part, and the burden is
saddled upon the people. The money is used to
carry on the ever-present revolution, or is em-
ployed to support the greedy horde of extortion-
ists surrounding the President and his so-called
government.
Men, without pretense of law, are drafted into
the army and are compelled to fight, and in the
revolutions that are ever recurrent most inhuman
atrocities are perpetrated. These revolutions are
bloody affairs without pretense of control by the
rules of civilized warfare; and by reason of them
a vast number of the people are impoverished to
the extent of starvation, which exists in a land that
smiles under a bright sky, amid cooling winds, and
blessed with the most fertile soil in the world.
While all this is true, the forms of justice are
in full effect. The republic has a Supreme Court,
and there is also a Court of Appeals in each dis-

THE MONROE DOCTRINE

trict. The whole paraphernalia of the courts is
under the control of the President, and those who
dispense justice dispense it according to his desires
and under his commands. He has the sole power
of appointment and removal.
That the course of justice has a hard road to
travel is readily understood when it is known that
every department is presided over by a general,
appointed by the President, and that he is held
responsible for whatever taxes are collected, for
the control of the courts, and for the absolute ac-
quiescence of every department in the will of the
President.
The governor of the department, who is a mili-
tary chief, has absolute control of the life of his
district. He is paid a nominal sum, yet he is ex-
pected to maintain at least a fifth part of the army
needed by the President to sustain his authority.
His expenses are hundreds of times the amount
of money he legally receives, and it is his duty on
a salary of a few dollars each month to bring to
the standard of the President from five hundred
to two thousand soldiers, equipped to carry on the
saturnalia of bloodshed and carnage.
There is but one way that this can be effectively
done, and that is by a system of rapine, a system
by which the people are harried to supply the sol-

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI

diery and the expense needed for their sustenance
and equipment. Not only is the money necessary
for this equipment exacted from the people, but
with it the general of the department seizes a suf-
ficiency to support him in licentious plenty. This
system of wrong-doing compels the peasant to se-
crete his banana patch in some fastness of the
mountain, or to raise his little crop where the ra-
pacious eyes of the marauders about the general
will not fall upon it. The inevitable result is a
reign of terror, destruction of agriculture, and the
complete paralysis of trade.
This system has, brought about a condition
scarcely equaled anywhere in the world, because
this is not a reign of terror that builds a great sys-
tem of government upon the ruins of the people;
for here, while the people are destroyed, they re-
ceive no compensation in the splendor or perma-
nency of their government. There is no escape
from this condition, for the reason that the mili-
tary system, in the hands of the bloodthirsty
rulers, is too strong, and the long permanence of
the reign of terror has had its inevitable effect
upon the life and the spirit of the people.
The general of the department keeps around
him at all times a horde of marauders, attached to
him in the interest of plunder. When the Presi-

THE MONROE DOCTRINE

dent desires troops, the order is sent to the general
for the number needed by the President, and the
citizen is taken from his farm or his shop, his
family is left to starve, and he is taken to the city
where the troops are being collected, and, half
naked and half starved, is thrown into a stockade,
or he is actually bound, and, under an armed
guard, is put into the ranks and compelled to fight.
If he despair and refuse to do as told, he is shot
down like a beast of the field and interred in a
shallow grave by the roadside.
Thus, throughout the whole of the island the
terror-stricken people are unable to carry on any
trade, nor can they pursue any calling necessary
for their sustenance. Under their system no for-
eigner can hold land. The whole government is
in the hands of the blacks, and the provision, by
which a white man can do business, hold land, and
in a manner enjoy the rights of citizenship by the
marriage of a black wife, has been done away
with, and the absolute control of all the property
in the island is in the hands of the negroes.
A fair illustration of the system of election is
exemplified by the election of Nord Alexis in 1902.
Being in control of the government forces and not
having been known as an aspirant for the presi-
dency, upon the assembling of the national assem-

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI

bly Alexis demanded that he should be elected
President. To his repeated demands the national
assembly paid little attention. On the eve of his
so-called election his troops in the field surrounded
the palace, falling into firing groups. In the pal-
ace preparations for a banquet were in progress.
Entering the national assembly, he notified it that
its members could elect him President and go to
the banquet, or face the firing squads being formed
in the yard. He was elected by acclamation.
This is but one of hundreds of illustrations of
the hollow pretense of free government in this
island. An election means but a revolution flow-
ing with blood. The government is a despotism
pure and simple, a despotism that fattens upon
the blood of an ignorant people, and is only a
horrid pretense of free government. Read this
record of its unstable and gory governmental life:

1804. Dessalines crowned as emperor.
180o6. He is assassinated; war between Haiti
and San Domingo.
1807. Christophe becomes king under title of
Henry the First; war.
18II. Petion president of southern part; civil
war.

THE MONROE DOCTRINE

1820. Boyer declared regent for life; after tre-
mendous insurrection and flow of blood
Christophe commits suicide.
1843. Boyer deposed and exiled after revolution.
1844. Rivirere exiled after one year; war.
1845. Guerrier in office one year.
1845. Pierror abdicated.
1846. Riche proclaimed president; died in one
year.
1847. Soloque declared emperor after many
wars and much bloodshed; exiled in
1859.
1858-59. Geffrard president until 1867; then
exiled.
1856-57. Dreadful revolution wherein Salnave
revolts, takes refugees from British
consulates, and kills them; English ship
drives them out and helps Geffrard;
Geffrard banished, Salnave made presi-
dent, with a new constitution; revolt
suppressed amid torrents of blood.
1868-70. Continual revolution; Salnave massa-
cres his enemies; proclaims himself em-
peror, is finally defeated and shot.
1870-74. Nissage Saget; completed his four
years.

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI

1874. Domingue seized the government, and
after bloody revolution exiled in
1876.
1876. Canal, after bloody revolution, seizes
power; after many revolutions he is ex-
pelled in 1879.
1879. Salomon elected; reflected 1886.
1888. Salomon deposed and exiled; civil war
between Hipolyte and Legitime; Legi-
time placed in office for one year and
exiled.
1889-96. Hipolyte, after many insurrections,
died in office; supposed to have been
poisoned.
1896. Simon Sam president; trouble with Ger-
many; numerous disorders until 1899.
1900. Sam takes all the funds and leaves the
country.
1902. General Nord Alexis proclaimed presi-
dent.
1908. Nord Alexis retired by revolution; Pow-
ers sent warships to stop massacre.
1911. Cincinnatus Le Conte proclaimed presi-
dent; killed in 1912.
1912. Tancrede Auguste appointed president;
killed in May, 1913.

6o THE MONROE DOCTRINE

1913. Michael Orresti proclaimed president;
was retired by revolution January 27,
1914.
1914. Orresti Zamor assumed the presidency
February 8, 1914, and at last accounts
was still alive.

By this chronology it will be seen that the con-
stitutional office for a president in Haiti is seven
years, and President Salomon, who held office
from 1879 to 1886, is apparently the only Haitian
president to fill out his term of office. He was
killed, however, within two years after his reelec-
tion for a second term in 1886.
A writer, one who occupies a high position in
the Haitian government, has lately put forth a
masterpiece of special pleading in defense of his
government. Any defense of this kind is idle.
Within a month it has reeked with blood under the
throes of one of its almost continuous revolutions.
Our government has been again compelled to in-
tervene and save the lives of many of the parties
engaged in this internecine war. A number of
times, by reason of this situation, war has been
almost precipitated between the Haitian govern-
ment and the European nations, and the warships
of Great Britain, France, and Germany are only

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 61

too frequent in the harbors of Haiti, protecting
their subjects, demanding redress of grievances,
and saving human life. Sooner or later the irre-
sponsible government of the Republic of Haiti
will commit the act that will involve us under the
first clause and original application of the Monroe
Doctrine. If it were not for the Monroe Doc-
trine, backed by the strong hands of this govern-
ment, this island to-day would be under the control
of a European nation.

62 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

VII

MORAL CONDITIONS IN HAITI

Let us pursue this investigation and further
consider the moral and religious condition of
Haiti.
Religion is but a pretense. The worship of the
green snake and the control of the voodoo are
everywhere prevalent. The island has degener-
ated from its once high estate, and there is no pre-
tense but what the Papaloi and the Mamaloi are
as potent as any of the figures in its life. It seems
to be true, that on any night the horrid rites of
the voodoo can be witnessed in the heart of the
capital of Haiti, surrounded by the soldiers in the
uniform of the Haitian government. In the book
mentioned this statement is denied, and the asser-
tion is made that Haiti has been slandered by the
book writers and the magazine makers, by "un-
scrupulous writers and travelers." This assertion
is unbelievable. I do not quote Spencer St. John,
the English minister, a resident in this island for
many years, who states in detail the horror of

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 63

despotism that governs the island, and who gives
the details of the dreadful practice of the voodoo,
and who charges child stealing and cannibalism to
these people. I will give only a few of the many
other proofs.

"A man, of course a general, is in prison for treason or
a detournement of funds. (This is a delicate way they
speak of stealing in Haiti when they will speak of it at
all.) It is a question of such minor importance, simply
whether the man shall live or die, that the President will
not defer it to the Papaloi or Voodoo priest, who lives in
the hills behind the city, so he drops a manikin of clay
upon the floor. If it breaks, the man dies; if it remains
intact, then he lives-as long as the noisome atmosphere
of a Haitian prison will let him. .
"Again the doubt, the President would draw a line
across the floor of his sanctum and then pitch manikins,
this time made of wood and attired in the gaudy glory of
Haitian generals. If the puppets passed the line, it meant
one thing; if they lagged behind, it meant another, and so
the State papers were fashioned and the presidential de-
crees inspired in Haiti.
"But of course upon the graver questions the Papaloi
and the Mamaloi, the high priest and the high priestess
of the Voodoo sect, sat in judgment. The Papaloi, or
Guinea coast prophet, with his fetich worship and his
Congo prayers, is the one solid, substantial fact in Haiti.
Around about him turn Haitian life and politics. In some
administrations the doors of the Black House have not
been as wide open to these prophets of the night as they

64 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

were while Nord Alexis ruled, but never have they been
closed except in the reign of the mulatto Geffrard some
forty years ago, and his was a short and little day and
ended with exile to Jamaica, where, under the guidance
of intelligent and sympathetic white men, the Afro-
American is accomplishing more, perhaps, than anywhere
else.
"The cannibalistic feed is only indulged in on rare
occasions and at long intervals, and is always shrouded in
mystery and hedged about with every precaution against
interlopers; for, be their African ignorance ever so dense,
their carnal fury ever so unbridled, the Papalois and
Mamalois, the head men and head women worshipers
never seem to forget that in these vile excesses there
should perhaps be found excuse enough for the interfer-
ence of the civilized world to save the people of the Black
Republic from the further degradation which awaits
them.
"Within the last fifteen years human victims have been
sacrificed to the great god Voodoo in the national palace
of Haiti. Last February there was assembled in the na-
tional palace what might justly be called a congress of
serpent worshipers. During the life of Mme. Nord,
which came to an end in October, 1908, not a week passed
but what a meeting of the Voodoo practitioners was held
in the executive mansion, and her deathbed was sur-
rounded by at least a score of these witch doctors."-
BONSAL, "The American Mediterranean."

"The serpent is the deity of the voodoos, and he is
represented by a high priest, called the Papaloi, and a
priestess, the Mamaloi; meaning the father and the mother

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 65

king. Their demands are absolute, and no sectary dare
disobey them. In this lies their menace to good govern-
ment, and it is well known that even some of the rulers
of Haiti have been dominated by them. The worship of
the serpent is carried on as secretly as possible; the sec-
taries are bound by oaths of secrecy, and their incantations
take place in the night. The serpent is consulted, through
the priest or priestess, and the devotees then indulge in
dancing and song, generally ending in the grossest forms
of debauchery."-OBER, "The Wake of Columbus."
"But this is not the worst. Immorality is so universal
that it almost ceases to be a fault, for a fault implies an
exception, and in Haiti it is the rule. Young people make
experiment of one another before they will enter into any
closer connection. So far they are no worse than in our
own English islands, where the custom is equally general;
but behind the immorality, behind the religiosity, there lies
active and alive the horrible revival of the West African
superstitions; the serpent worship, and the child sacrifice,
and the cannibalism. There is no room to doubt it. A
missionary assured me that an instance of it occurred
only a year ago within his own personal knowledge. The
facts are notorious; a full account was published in one of
the local newspapers, and the only result was that the
President imprisoned the editor for exposing the country.
A few years ago persons guilty of these infamies were
tried and punished; now they are left alone, because to
prosecute and convict them would be to acknowledge the
truth of the indictment."-FROUDE, "The English in the
West Indies."
"No accurate history of Haiti can be written without

66 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

reference to the horrible sorcery, called the religion of
Voodoo, which was introduced into the country with the
slaves from Africa. Its creed is that the God Voodoo has
the power usually ascribed to the Christian's Lord, and
that he shows himself to his good friends, the negroes, un-
der the form of a non-venomous snake, and transmits his
power through a chief priest or priestess. These are
called either king and queen, master or mistress, or gen-
erally as Papalois and Mamalois. The principal act of
worship consists of a wild dance, attended by grotesque
gesticulations, which leads up to the most disgraceful
orgies. A secret oath binds all the voodoos, on the taking
of which, the lips of the neophyte are usually touched with
warm goat's blood, which is intended to inspire terror.
He promises to submit to death should he ever reveal the
secrets of the fraternity, and to put to death any traitor
to the sect. It is affirmed, and no doubt is true, that on
special occasions a sacrifice is made of a living child, or
the "goat without horns," as it is called, and then canni-
balism in its worst form is indulged in. Under the cir-
cumstances of taking the oath of allegiance, it should
cause no surprise that the Haitians claim that this is not
true and defy any white man to produce evidence of guilt.
But, notwithstanding, no one can read the horrible tales
published by one of the British ministers to Haiti, which
described in detail the revolting practices of the voodoos,
together with the proofs he brings to substantiate the
truth of the allegations, without coming to the reluctant
conclusion that cannibalism is resorted to in these meetings.
Of course, no white man could long live on the island after
having given testimony leading to the conviction of cul-
prits in such cases, and therefore the negroes' demand for

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 67

proof can never be satisfied. Indeed, it is said that
even some presidents who have openly discouraged the
voodoo practices have come to violent deaths from this
cause.
"The character of the meetings of the voodoos, which
take place in secluded spots in the thick woods, is well
known, and I have been given a description of one of them
from an eye-witness, who is an officer of our navy, which
no one could hear without a shudder. He states in brief
that one day while out hunting he abruptly ran into a
camp of worshipers, which was located in a lonely spot
in the woods, and the horrors he there saw made an in-
delible impression upon his mind.
"When his presence was discovered he was immediate-
ly seized by a frenzied crowd of men and women, and for
some minutes there did not seem to be a question but that
his life was to be forfeited; but the Papalois called a halt
and a council, apparently, to determine what action should
be taken, and while this was in session a handful of coin,
judiciously scattered, diverted the thoughts of the negroes
for the time being from their captive. The usual sacri-
fice of a live white rooster was now brought on, seeing
which the people were called back to their worship, and
the ceremonies went on in his presence.
"In the horrible struggle which took place for posses-
sion, the bird was torn literally to pieces, and he had no
doubt that its accompaniment, the "goat without horns,"
would soon follow. While this was in progress his pres-
ence seemed to be forgotten, and, watching a good oppor-
tunity, he ran for his very life, not stopping until he
reached the protection of his ship.

68 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

Rear-Admiral Chester further says:

"But there is one thing common to the whole country,
of which every Haitian denies the existence: Vaudoux is
the one thing which they declare they have not. They tell
you there is no snake-worship (I am speaking of the higher
classes) within the bounds of the republic. But when you
betray certain knowledge of the subject, they admit that
though sacrifices and savage dances may take place in other
departments, no such things are known in that one in
which you at the moment find yourself.
"Thus in Jacmel they told me I should find Vaudoux
in Port-au-Prince and the Plain of Cul-de-Sac. In Port-
au-Prince, as I was actually returning from witnessing a
sacrifice within the limits of the town, I was advised to go
to the Cape, where alone such rites flourished. And at
the Cape they told me to take ship for Jacmel, for there I
would assuredly find them. As a matter of plain fact,
the traveler riding across the country in any direction is
quite likely to come suddenly in view of the ceremonies
in full swing. He will see the tell-tale dances, the faces
smeared in blood, perhaps even the body of the black goat,
the sacred sacrifice."-PRICHARD, "Where Black Rules
White."

"It may bear away the palm of being the most foul-
smelling, dirty, and consequently fever-stricken city in the
world. Every one throws his refuse before his door, so
that heaps of manure and every species of rubbish encum-
ber the way.
"As to the streets, they do not seem to have been mend-
ed for the last hundred years. The Haitians have a say-

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI

ing, 'Bon Dieu gate li; bon Dieu pare6 li' (God spoilt
them, and God will mend them). As the 'bon Dieu'
only helps those who help themselves, and as the Haitians
have no desire to help themselves in the way of making
or repairing their roadways, their condition is frightful
beyond description. The gutters are open, pools of stag-
nant and fetid water obstruct the streets everywhere, and
receive constant accessions from the inhabitants using them
as cesspools and sewers. There are few good buildings
in town, and none in the country, the torch of the incen-
diary being constantly applied, and no encouragement of-
fered to rebuild, through protection of the government or
local enterprises. Buildings destroyed by earthquake or
fire are never replaced, and the nearest approach to re-
building is seen in the slab shanty leaning against the
ruined walls of a large structure demolished."-OBER,
"In the Wake of Columbus."

Rear-Admiral Colby M. Chester, in his article
on "Haiti: A Degenerating Island," further says:

"Of the eleven ports of Haiti open to foreign com-
merce, Cape Haitien and Port-au-Prince are the largest
and most progressive.
"Cape Haitien, or 'The Cape,' as it is commonly called,
is situated on the northwestern coast, at the foot of a hill
that slopes back to the sea, with most picturesque sur-
roundings. It has a commodious harbor and supports a
population of 30,000 or 4o,ooo people. Under the French,
it was the capital of the colony, and its wealth, splendor,
and luxury gained for it the name of Little Paris; but now

70 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

the structures erected by the French in colonial days are
a mass of ruins, the parks overgrown with tropical weeds,
the fountains choked with debris, the gutters filled with
filth, all producing pestilential emanations from which for-
eigners speedily run away, if they are forced into its en-
vironments.
"Port-au-Prince, the present capital of the Republic, as
well as its largest and most important city, is likewise most
picturesquely located at the foot of hills, where one may
escape from its blistering and filthy streets to mountain
resorts that would be popular if located in almost any
country of the world. Unlike Cape Haitien, the city is
cut off from the trade-winds, to which this island owes
so much of its salubriousness, and therefore it is hot; but
still the traveler caught in the town may frequently felici-
tate himself when he reads that cities in our own country
have higher temperatures by 10 to 15 degrees than is
usually found here. The city is well supplied with the
most delicious mountain water, and if its 6o,ooo inhabi-
tants used it as freely as do Americans, it might be as clean
as nature made it. As it is, it may well hold the palm for
being the most filthy, foul-smelling, and, consequently,
fever-stricken city in the world. The gutters of the
streets, which may be said to cover the whole roadbeds,
are filled with stagnant waters and are used as cesspools
by the people. But for the torrential rains, which pour
down the mountain sides and carry off all the filth, into
the beautiful bay, even a Haitian could not live there.
But the bay, thus polluted, is quite as much of a menace to
health as the city itself. During the visits of American
men-of-war to the port, most of the time is spent in keep-
ing the people from the pestilential vapors which emanate

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI

from the sea itself. The water of the harbor is so bad
that it cannot be used even for scrubbing the decks of
the ship."

"No one can foretell the future of the Black Republic,
but the present order of things cannot last in an island so
close under the American shores. If the Americans forbid
any other power to interfere, they will have to interfere
themselves. If they find Mormonism an intolerable blot
upon their escutcheon, they will have to put a stop in
some way or other to cannibalism and devil-worship.
Meanwhile, the ninety years of negro self-government
have had their use in showing what it really means, and if
English statesmen, either to save themselves trouble or to
please the prevailing uninstructed sentiment insist on ex-
tending it, they will be found when the accounts are made
up to have been no better friends to the unlucky negro
tfian their slave-trading forefathers."-FROUDE, "The
English in the West Indies."

Mining is largely an unknown occupation in
Haiti. Agriculture has languished, although it is
true that in 1912 the coffee crop increased, and
concessions have been made to some timber enter-
prises; but little has been done in the way of en-
terprise and action in this island situated athwart
the commerce of the world. If this condition were
sporadic and lasted but for a time, it would be a
proposition for consideration; but when the island
is lapsing practically into degeneracy, when the

THE MONROE DOCTRINE

government is a continuous revolution, and the
state of religion is as the proofs indicated, are not
the peace and safety of this country constantly in
peril by reason of the condition of this island, so
near to us and so important to our life?
These statements are not pleasant. They are
not made for any sinister purpose; the object is to
bring to the attention of our people a condition of
affairs at our very doors, a condition that is of
vital and increasing importance to this nation. It
is easy to apply the Monroe Doctrine as to non-
interference on the part of European nations with
our hemisphere. The great question is our own
position with the nations of this hemisphere, na-
tions that may offend against the doctrine which
conserves the peace and safety of our government.
With the world movement of to-day, with the
enormous changes which have taken place by rea-
son of the building of the Isthmian Canal, can
our peace and safety be preserved if we sit by and
allow an international nuisance to bring upon this
country the interference of the nations of Europe,
and compel us by blood and treasure to enforce the
original application of our doctrine of European
non-interference? Free Cuba and the free Cen-
tral and South American states attest the fact that
one of the great fundamental desires of this re-

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI

public is that it shall be surrounded by free peo-
ples and free governments. It seems to be appar-
ent, however, that the time has arrived when the
conditions in and along the Gulf of Mexico and
the Caribbean Sea can no longer be tolerated.
These seas, for many years, have been silent seas.
The conditions are now changed, and the great
trade routes of the world will pass about this
island and over these seas, which will be noisy
with the whirl of the propeller and bright with the
sails of ships.

"The peoples of European civilization, after a period of
comparative repose, are again advancing all along the line,
to occupy not only the desert places of the earth but the
debatable grounds, the buffer territories, which hitherto
have separated them from those ancient nations, with
whom they now soon must stand face to face and border
to border."-MAHAN.

Can the peace and safety of this country be pre-
served unless we adopt the measures which are the
inalienable right of every nation? The world,
with the shortening of trade routes, the touching
of nations, and their needs for sure commercial
conditions, is arriving at the thought that there is
no inalienable right on the part of any people to
control any region to the detriment and injury of

74 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

the world at large. This is not a covert assertion
that under the Monroe Doctrine this nation can
take control of the affairs of other states of this
hemisphere, when the policy of that country does
not suit our theories and ideas. It means, how-
ever, that when a country on these two seas per-
sists in being an international nuisance, when it
shows to the world a condition of general degen-
eracy, by which it practically gives notice that
there can be no improvement, this government,
under the Monroe Doctrine, will adopt measures
for its own peace and protection and for the pres-
ervation of the trade and commerce of the seas,
which are within this country's commercial life.

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI

VIII

OBJECT OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE

The Monroe Doctrine is nothing more nor less
than a doctrine of self-preservation. To permit
the condition of the Republic of Haiti to exist,
without interference or protest on our part, is
illogical. Under the Monroe Doctrine we say to
European nations that they shall not for any cause
lay their hands heavily upon a country in this
hemisphere. At the same time, in accordance with
the views of many people of our day, we ourselves
have not the right to interfere. Hence, unless we
interfere or permit the European nations that
privilege there must be a continuance of the
status.
The original object of the Monroe Doctrine
was to prevent the control and colonization of the
independent states of this hemisphere by Euro-
pean nations. This does not mean that with any
orderly or stable government this government
should occupy the position of suzerainty or im-

THE MONROE DOCTRINE

plied control. No American believes that great
states, like Argentina, Brazil, or Chile, with their
stable governments, should be under our control,
either implied or actual. Still, every one who un-
derstands the conditions of the day believes that a
logical corollary of the Monroe Doctrine demands
that the nations of this hemisphere shall, in their
governmental affairs, do nothing that would in-
fringe upon the rights or impair the peace and
safety of the American government. Since the
construction of the canal, this condition has be-
come intensified. This government is practically a
trustee for the world in its possession of the Isth-
mian Canal. Is it conceivable that, with our enor-
mously increased interests, we should sit idly by
and allow the peace and safety of this country to
be interfered with by a country that is a plague
spot to the nations of the earth?
A great part of American commerce and a
large part of the traffic of the world will be
through the American seas, between the walls of
this canal, and by the shores of this island. These
seas will become more populous with commerce
than any other section of the world. They will be
a gathering place and a crossing point for the
East and the West; and their possession, either
forcibly or otherwise, will carry with it more po-

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI

tentiality than the possession of any other body of
water on the face of the earth. It will be abso-
lutely necessary that the outposts of the canal shall
be in the hands of strong and stable governments,
and it cannot be thought that the harbors neces-
sary for that commerce and the islands by which
it will pass, islands in whose broad bays it will be
compelled to anchor, shall be rife with revolution
and dangerous to that commerce. Is it wise that
this country, which is practically guardian of this
commerce, should allow a condition to obtain that
is a daily menace to this great American com-
merce-a condition that will surely bring about
complications which must interfere with the peace
and safety of this country?
This great traffic must be clear and safe, and
the responsibility is upon us to see that within these
seas the rights of a hundred million people and
their unborn descendants shall not be infringed
by countries that are not able to preserve a stable
government for themselves.
Our government believes that the fundamental
principles of a country's life should be freedom
and consent of the governed, yet it is idle to speak
of the consent of the governed in an island which
has never known anything but a blood-stained des-
potism.

THE MONROE DOCTRINE

"It is untruthful folly to assert that it is possible for
the United States, or for any other great nation, to treat
an anarchic and wrongdoing country on a footing of real
and full equality of which I have above spoken as repre-
senting that plane of conduct which should characterize
all the dealings between my nation and your own, and my
nation and certain other South American republics. I
hope, and I am reasonably confident, that the less advanced
nations of the New World will in their turn gradually
advance just as my nation and yours, as well as certain
others, have already advanced. As soon as any such na-
tion in the course of its advance reaches a position of self-
respecting strength and orderly liberty and achieved power
to do and to exact justice, then it should at once step out
from any position of tutelage in any respect."-ROOSE-
VELT, "Chile and the Monroe Doctrine."

A distinguished writer, in advocating the abro-
gation of the Monroe Doctrine, speaks of it as if
all danger to the South and Central American re-
publics were over. Permit a little plain speaking
on this subject, for frankness is sometimes help-
ful in the great affairs of the world as well as in
the small.
I believe if it had not been for the promulgation
and the enforcement of the Monroe Doctrine by
this republic, there would not to-day be on the
continent of South America, or in Central Amer-
ica, a government independent of European con-

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI

trol. Let us look at the situation of to-day
throughout the world, and ascertain if there is any
change in the desires of the nations since the pro-
mulgation of the Monroe Doctrine.
The earth hunger of the European countries is
fiercer than ever in its history. Their vastly in-
creasing populations demand an enlargement of
their national life, and the peoples of the Euro-
pean governments demand more food and more
labor than their countries can furnish. The great
new markets of the world are South and Central
America, China, and some parts of Africa. China
has been practically delimited into spheres of in-
fluence by the European governments, and the
Japanese, and Mongolia has been raped from her
bosom. The gaunt breast of Africa has been
seized and marked out by the European govern-
ments for their own. The whitening bones of
Italian, Arab, and Turk in Tripoli, the fierce an-
ger of France and Germany only last year over
Morocco, the busy colonization plans of Europe
in Northern Africa, the strife over the dying
Moslem Empire, the seizure and occupation of
Egypt by England, and the tremendous conflict be-
tween Russia and Japan, which, in its last analy-
sis, was a conflict for territory, all attest that to-
day the earth hunger is not satiated. From this

80 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

it seems that were it not for the power of the
Monroe Doctrine, within ten years, excepting Ar-
gentine, Brazil, and Chile, there would not be a
free and independent government in South Amer-
ica. Their marvelous natural wealth, their splen-
dor of climate, their richness of flora and fauna,
and their wealth of precious metals, would more
surely provoke the desire of the European nations
than the gaunt, fever-stricken and fierce sunburned
wastes of Africa.

"The territorial responsibilities of the Latin-American
nations are greatly in excess of their respective popula-
tions. The seventeen republics from Mexico to Cape
Horn, with an area several times that of Central Europe,
contain at best seventy million inhabitants, who could be
comfortably housed in any one of the larger republics,
leaving the immense remaining territory available for
European expansion. Can Tripoli compare with the
broad and fertile plains of Northern Venezuela, border-
ing on the Caribbean? Or Morocco with the At-
lantic coast section of Colombia? Can the Congo com-
pare favorably with the Amazon, or Madagascar or West
Africa with the inner lands of Peru, or Bolivia, or of
Ecuador?
"The consideration of such possibilities implies no wan-
ton spirit of alarmism. If Tripoli has been thought worth
Italy's present effort, and Morocco France's recent ven-
ture, why should not the infinitely richer Caribbean coast

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 8

fare likewise? No one in his senses, surely, would out-
rage the Powers by supposing that their abstention has
been prompted by moral considerations; their reputation
is too well established."-SEROR A. DEMANON-ALBAS, in
the English Review of Reviews, quoted by Wheless.

82 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

IX

APPLICATION OF THE MONROE DOC-
TRINE

Those who feel that the Monroe Doctrine is
outworn, that it should be abrogated, evidently
do not remember very modern history. My mean-
ing is illustrated by an incident in connection with
one of the great A B C nations of the South
American continent, an incident that many of us
remember as if it had occurred yesterday, when
the revolution against the republic was inaugu-
rated in Brazil. For the purpose of reestablish-
ing the empire, the navy of Brazil was in favor of
the overturning of the republic and the restoration
of the Braganza family to the head of an imperial
Brazilian government. In the harbor of Rio
Janeiro was congregated an assembly of the war-
ships of the monarchies of Europe and of the re-
public of the United States. The commanders of
the European squadrons were in sympathy with
the revolutionists and were unwilling to do any-
thing that would interfere with the plans of the

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI

imperialists. When the imperialists attempted to
establish a blockade, to carry out their plans of
revolution, the American commander, acting un-
der the Monroe Doctrine, by direction of our gov-
ernment in Washington, was the only naval com-
mander who objected, and he cleared for action
and forced the admiral commanding the imperial
forces to desist from his purposes. It must be re-
membered that this incident occurred only in 1893,
and that it happened to the great republican gov-
ernment of Brazil, our friend and neighbor.
Let us take another modern and well-known ap-
plication. So late as 1894 the British government
attempted to force a situation with Venezuela, a
situation that would bring about British control of
the Orinoco region and practically shut up in
British hands the control of one of the greatest
rivers of commerce, a region that has imperial
potentialities of trade and commercial life. Had
it not been for the strong hand of this government,
acting through the Monroe Doctrine and under its
provisions, an important field of commerce, a vast
region of South America, a great portion of an
independent republic, and the control of a mighty
river would to-day be in the grasp of the British
empire.
Another illustration was the attempted enforce-

84 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

ment, 1901-1904, by the governments of Ger-
many, England, and Italy of the payment of the
Venezuelan debt. Had it not been for the vig-
orous representations of our government that
under the Monroe Doctrine it would not permit
heavy burdens to be placed upon the Venezuelan
Republic, it is plain that the European govern-
ments would not have held their hands in the en-
forcement of their claims against Venezuela.
These governments have not often returned to the
possession of their owners any territory taken
under pretense of collection of debts or seized for
the infringement of any of their rights. Here
was a practical recognition, both by act and by
written statement, of the enforcement of the
Monroe Doctrine in preventing the great Euro-
pean governments from laying their hands heavily
upon countries of this hemisphere. The Magda-
lena Bay incident is another case; and while the
attempt to obtain possession of this important
strategic position was denied, still there was, prac-
tically, a recognition of the Doctrine by the Japa-
nese government.
The question of European interference is not
dead. To every one who reads there arises the
question of the settlement of the position of the
great foreign colonies in South America. Every

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 85

well-informed student of public affairs and inter-
national matters is looking forward to the time
when friction will develop between the home gov-
ernments of these colonists and the republics with-
in whose territories they live.
The enormous importance of this has not been
thoroughly understood by the people of our coun-
try. One illustration of the many at hand will
suffice in the statement of Prof. Schmoller, of the
Prussian Privy Council: "We must wish that at
any price a German country peopled by twenty or
thirty million Germans must grow up in Brazil."
"The people of the United States have learned in the
school of experience to what extent the relations of states
to each other depend, not upon sentiment nor principle,
but upon selfish interest. They will not soon forget that,
in their hour of distress, all their anxieties and burdens
were aggravated by the possibility of demonstrations
against their national life on the part of the powers with
whom they had long maintained the most harmonious re-
lations. They have yet in mind that France seized upon
the apparent opportunity of our civil war to set up a mon-
archy in the adjoining state of Mexico. They realize that
had France and Great Britain held important South
American possessions to work from and to benefit, the
temptation to destroy the predominance of the Great Re-
public in this hemisphere by furthering its dismemberment
might have been irresistible. From that grave peril they
have been saved in the past and may be saved again in

86 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

the future through the operation of the sure but silent
force of the doctrine proclaimed by President Monroe.
To abandon it, on the other hand, disregarding both the
logic of the situation and the facts of our past experience,
would be to renounce a policy which has proved both an
easy defense against foreign aggression and a prolific
source of internal progress and prosperity."-SECRETARY
OLNEY.
We desire to go in peace and equity with the
peoples of this hemisphere to that consummation
where all will be kindliness and trust between this
republic and our neighbors. Still, the great
thought of this republic is that it is best for all to
maintain the Monroe Doctrine in all its virility.
With our President we expressly disclaim any de-
sire of conquest, nor do we wish any suzerainty or
control of the stable nations of this hemisphere.
Here is where the correct differentiation as to the
Latin countries is lost. It is idle to speak of the
great nations, stable and orderly as they are, as
standing on a level with disorderly, revolution-
ridden despotisms, such as have been here dis-
cussed and which largely obtain in Latin America.
This doctrine is fundamentally necessary to the
existence of the peace and safety of this country,
and we wish the moral support of the great and
stable nations of South America to carry it to its
full fruition.

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI

The application of these propositions to the
subject under consideration is plain. It will not
do to say that the revolutions of these people mark
an era and establish a stage of development on the
line of governmental sobriety and national charac-
ter, nor that they are contending for some great
principle, as did the English in working out their
ideas of constitutional government. Such is the
contention of some of those that write of this
island. No upward step had been taken by the
Haitians; and while their continuous revolutions
bring about an enormous loss in both govern-
mental affairs and economic matters, these people
will not reach the ultimate high level that will be
for the benefit of mankind. By reason of their
training, their inherent constitution, and their tra-
ditions, their condition has become surely and
steadily worse. We cannot say: "Let them
alone; their condition will right itself," for there
is nothing to show hope of improvement.
This debased condition is not the result of cir-
cumstances, which have been truly unfortunate,
but it grows from the inherent nature and spirit of
the people, fundamentals that cannot be changed
by the few forms of civilization adopted by them.
The proofs, so abundant, show that they are not

88 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

fitted for self-government; and their condition, if
left to itself, will become worse than it is to-day.
By the control of the strong hand of a civilized
government they may be able to emerge from the
condition of anarchy and despair that surrounds
their so-called republic; but they will never be able
of themselves to rise from the deep bog in which
they have been floundering for more than a cen-
tury.
This is well illustrated by the neighboring re-
public of San Domingo. After the control by this
government of its custom houses and finances, and
the payment of its debts, and the honest expendi-
ture of its greatly increased revenues, it would
seem that the results would be sufficient to show
the people that the ways of civilization are happier
than are the ways of revolution and anarchy.
However, after nine years of debt-paying, with a
touch of experience of constitutional government,
they have again broken into their old ways of
insurrection, and the island is again weltering in
blood and in the throes of dreadful anarchy.
It would seem that the only hope of permanent
improvement must spring from the control of their
governmental affairs by the strong hands of a
civilized government. After years of control,
such as is indicated, these people may emerge into

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 89

the light of a better day, but constitutionally they
seem to be opposed to the trammels of civilized
government; and it is a serious question whether
after years of leadership and practical control
by civilized effort they will ever bring them-
selves to a condition where they will be able
to carry into orderly fruition the principles of free
government.
While this government has no desire for con-
quest, yet the great advance in the world move-
ment and in the vital commercial affairs of the
globe demands that the peace and safety of this
hemisphere shall not be needlessly and wickedly
broken, and that the peace, happiness, and safety
of this nation and the commerce of the world
within the bounds of our governmental life shall
not be imperiled in the future. The tremendous
impetus which, under the world movements of to-
day, has been so potent and plain demands order
in all the affairs and details of its life. The condi-
tions of the times and the dependence of one part
of the globe upon the other, brought about by
the easy interchange between the nations, mean
that no disorder in that great world commerce will
be again lightly tolerated.
Under the plainest and fairest interpretation of
the Monroe Doctrine, that instrument reaches

90 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

easily the subject under discussion. Under its
original application it will not allow a situation to
obtain which will give foreign nations the oppor-
tunity to interfere in the governmental life of
countries of our hemisphere. Under the funda-
mental meaning of the Monroe Doctrine, it will
imperil the peace, safety, and happiness of this
country if an island, lying at our doors, within
touch of our daily life, athwart our greatest line of
commerce, be allowed to continue its life of dis-
order.

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 91

x

THE MENACE OF HAITI

This discussion is not a mere moot question.
The condition of the Republic of Haiti is fraught
at this time with peril to the peace and safety of
the United States, both as regards the original
application of the Monroe Doctrine, as to actual
interference with our hemisphere by foreign pow-
ers, and also in its later application and exten-
sion, by endangering the peace and safety of this
country through its moral and governmental de-
generation.
All students of these affairs are familiar with
the episode that brought about the destruction of
the Crete-a-Pierrot 'by the German cruiser Pan-
ther. Within a month the Republic of Haiti,
reeking with blood, was in the throes of one of its
almost continuous revolutions. Our government
has time and again been compelled to intervene to
save the lives of those engaged in Haiti's inter-
necine wars. Repeatedly, by reason of its condi-
tion, war has been almost precipitated between

THE MONROE DOCTRINE

the Haitian government and the nations of Eu-
rope.
The government of Haiti is bankrupt, and its
debt amounts to more than thirty-five millions of
dollars. It has often defaulted in the payment of
its debts; and within the last few months the
French government impounded the Haitian navy
to compel the payment of the interest to the citi-
zens of France. This was done again within a
short time by the German government, and a Ger-
man ship by force compelled the payment of
money due the citizens of that government. The
same action, in effect, was taken within the last
month by the English government, which com-
pelled, under threats of war, the payment of
money due the English bond-holders.
We do not pretend to set down the long list of
interference by the armed forces of foreign na-
tions in the affairs of Haiti, but we give as an il-
lustration of the danger of this situation that
which is to-day taking place in the immediate lines
of our commerce, on, practically, the shore line
of the government of the United States.
It is now reported, with seemingly important
proof, that the German government has lately
sought control of Haiti in return for a loan of two
millions of dollars, and that Germany was to re-

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 93

ceive important rights in its ports and have charge
of the custom receipts, and that the contract was
to include a coaling station at Mole Saint Nich-
olas. The German government has denied this
statement. Yet, in its letter of denial it added
this most significant and important statement:
"The German government had joined with other
European governments in representing to Wash-
ington that the interests of European countries in
Haiti are so large that no scheme of reorganiza-
tion or control can be regarded as acceptable, un-
less it is undertaken under international auspices."
A large portion of the debt of the Haitian re-
public is owing to German and French citizens.
The demand of the German government, in effect,
is that such control as is set out in its note would be
the practical control of Haiti by Germany and
France. It would be a tripartite agreement be-
tween Germany, France, and the United States,
with the two former countries acting together as
against our country. This proposition is to-day
pending, and it looks to the control of this impor,-
tant and strategic island by foreign governments,
one of which has important interest in securing a
position in either the Gulf of Mexico or the Car-
ibbean Sea.
The statement of the German government is

94 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

practically a warning, and it is the part of states-
manship that this warning should be heeded. The
condition of Haiti, which is in danger of bringing
about this important interference with the Monroe
Doctrine and with the peace and safety of this
nation, should be terminated by a vigorous and
firm exercise by this government of the principles
of the Monroe Doctrine, and thus prevent the re-
currence of a situation that may at any time bring
about an infraction of the doctrine by European
governments.
This position of our country should breed no
distrust among the self-respecting and stable na-
tions on this hemisphere. We will go along with
them, hand in hand, and, with their assistance,
help the nations that are weak, and we will do
what we can to place them on eternal foundations
of freedom and order, so that they may become
part and parcel of this great, free brotherhood on
the western hemisphere. This does not mean,
however, that under the Monroe Doctrine we are
to allow any weak, degenerating, bankrupt, and
emasculated country the continued right to bring
about a situation that will involve this country in
war, imperil our peace and safety, or hamper and
interfere with our commerce.
This is not an untoward extension of the Mon-

IN ITS RELATION TO HAITI 95

roe Doctrine. By the progression of the world
and change of the lines of commerce the Monroe
Doctrine has been modified, not in its fundamen-
tal principles, but the mode, manner, and time of
its application must be different from.what they
were when it was originally enunciated. This
government, under the Doctrine, cannot sit idly by
and wait until the actual encroachment of foreign
powers upon this hemisphere, an encroachment
brought about by the condition of our so-called re-
publics, shall take place. The Doctrine is a na-
tional right that cannot be neglected, and it is a
"national policy based upon a natural right, as in-
alienable from nationality as life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness are inalienable from hu-
manity."
The demands of the civilized world sooner or
later will compel the United States to interfere in
the affairs of Haiti and in the governments of
other countries similarly situated, in order to pre-
vent further offense against the laws of civilization
and decency. Civilization will not much longer
tolerate plague spots in the midst of its work. It
is unthinkable that a condition will be allowed to
continue at our door, where great ships under
our flag, filled with our citizens, will be at the
mercy of bloody and half-civilized revolutionists,

96 THE MONROE DOCTRINE

and where the laws of civilization governing com-
merce and harbors, lighthouses and charting of
channels are practically set at naught.
Not much longer will it be tolerated within
thirty hours of our greatest port, on a line with
our most important commerce, that the idolatry
of the snake and the control of the witch doctor
should be supreme, that cannibalism should be
charged and proven, that absolutism should exist
in its worst form, and that, under the present sys-
tem, the impoverishment and destruction of a
great island-almost part of our shore line-
should occur, and that its political, moral, and
financial degeneracy should be brought about by
the dreadful governmental and economical forces
at work within its borders.